Comprehensive info. on family & non-family farms & important trends in farming, operator household income, farm performance, & contracting. Family farms & non-family farms vary widely in size & other characteristics, ranging from very small retirement & residential/lifestyle farms to estab. with sales in the millions of dollars. Most farms are family farms, or farm oper. organized as proprietorships, partnerships, or family corp. Average farm household income has been at or above the avg. for all U.S. households in recent years, with farm households receiving most of their income from off-farm sources. Over the past 40 years, the growth in contract-governed prod. has been slow & steady, & now covers well over 2/3 of the value of U.S. production. Illus.